In Norway and in the rest of Europe, there is an 18-year-old limit for gambling, but this does not stop the gambling companies who make a lot of money from illegal gambling with Norwegian teenagers. – The companies that operate here are only looking for profit, and they have no requirements for accountability. There are no boundaries or barriers, and there are no requirements to look after those who get into trouble. It is predatory exploitation of children and young people. That’s what Magnus Pedersen says. He is a political advisor in Gambling Addiction Norway. Magnus Pedersen in Gambling Addiction Norway strongly warns young people under the age of 18 to gamble with skins. Photo: Private news has received a tip about young people under the age of 18 who have lost NOK 20,000 of their confirmation money in one day. And that there are many people who are hooked. Magnus Pedersen confirms this. – It is pure casino operation, and not intended for children and young people. We see the gameplay becoming very aggressive. They gamble too much, too fast, and they incur huge debt far too early in life. Pedersen says that Gambling Addiction Norway receives inquiries from young people who started playing such games as early as 13–14 years of age. How does it take place? Fredrik Engevik is 25 years old and plays games a lot in his spare time. He has previously appeared for news to talk about how gaming can provide good mental health for young men. Engevik is well aware of how the gaming industry gets young people under the age of 18 to gamble. Not with pure money, but with digital goods that have different values in well-known games such as Counterstrike and Rust. So-called skins. – These can be worth anything from one kroner to several million kroner, says Engevik. Buying skins is legal, and very common. Skins are virtual clothes or effects that you can buy for weapons or your character in the game so that the appearance becomes different. According to the Canadian website GameQuitters, in recent years skins have grown to become a virtual currency that can be traded with. This does not happen inside the games, but on other websites. – Skins are traded on exchanges, and can decrease or increase in value depending on how rare they are or how cool people think they are, explains Fredrik Engevik. There are hundreds of websites that function as exchanges where skins are sold and bought. Many of the exchanges also offer pure casino sites where you can exchange your skins for coins that you can gamble with. Either on classic games such as roulette or E-sports matches between professional Counterstrike players. You can also bet your skins in various bets against others. The chance of winning is based on the value of the skins. In addition, there are dedicated casinos where you can use skins as digital currency. – You can lose everything you have, says Engevik. Shame Young people who gamble online often keep it hidden from their parents, according to Gambling Addiction Norway. Because one is ashamed of having lost a lot of money. And because you want to try to win back what you have lost. – There is an extremely large amount of shame involved, and it is only reinforced by knowing that this is a situation you should not have ended up in. It can affect both physical and mental health, says Magnus Pedersen. He believes the industry is very cynical. – The industry is greedy. The mere fact that they operate with these functions against a user group that is so young is reprehensible. They earn money that young people cannot afford to lose, and then I think that is pure cynicism, says Pedersen. The online gambling of young people usually goes under the radar of the parents. Young people often keep their online gambling hidden from their parents, according to Gambling Addiction Norway. According to Gambling Addiction Norway, the classic situation is that young people want to win back what they have lost without telling their parents. The gambling becomes more and more aggressive, and eventually large sums can be lost. – They get to buy skins in a game or maybe get a gift card. It’s innocent in itself, but what many parents don’t know is that they can take the skins over to third-party platforms and lose them, says Fredrik Engevik. Many adults have no idea what skin gambling is or how it takes place, says Fredrik Engevik Photo: Gisle Jørgensen / news He believes there is a digital knowledge gap between the generations that needs to be closed. – It is scary. Parents need to ask more questions and follow up more. Don’t be judgmental, but curious. Nor has the authority followed the development, according to Gambling Addiction Norway. – It is up to the authorities to regulate the industry, so that we can pursue these companies that exploit children and young people. Then we also take them to court to stop the business, says Magnus Pedersen. The Norwegian Consumer Council believes the risk of loss is high At the Consumer Council, senior legal advisor Thomas Iversen is aware that young people gamble with skins. They receive inquiries from both concerned parents and the young people themselves, and assist with advice and guidance. – This is obviously very, very risky, and you risk losing all your money. In addition, we see that many of these transactions take place on unauthorized sites, and on market platforms that are not well regulated. Thomas Iversen of the Consumer Council says there is a great risk associated with skins gambling. Iversen says that even though young people spend a lot of time online, it does not mean that they know all the dangers and pitfalls. – It is central that young people become safe digital users. Even if the young people sit a lot on the PC or use the mobile phone a lot, that does not necessarily make the children very digitally competent and attentive, says Iversen. In Europe, there is an 18-year-old limit for gambling. But on these pages, young people under the age of 18 can still lose thousands of kroner. – The platforms that allow younger people to gamble are doing something illegal, says Iversen. No one will answer. news has tried to get in touch with a number of websites that offer gambling with skins. Only a spokesperson from CSGORoll has responded, but the company does not wish to make any comments. CSGORoll is one of the most well-known and oldest websites that offers trade in skins. On its website, the company writes that it is not a gambling site, but it also states that players can win skins and that it offers bets on E-sports matches. To identify themselves, users at CSGORoll must attach a copy of their passport or driver’s license along with a handwritten note where the name on the website is written. In addition, the user must confirm their address by attaching a letter from a public agency that is no older than three months. The site has no age limit. The websites that define themselves as gambling sites have an age limit of 18, and have similar rules for identification as CSGORoll. For comparison, Norsk Tipping has an 18-year age limit on all its games. To become a customer, you must have a BankID and a valid national identification number. In this way, the company can easily find out whether the customer is under 18 or not. The foreign gaming companies do not have this option. The Norwegian Lottery and Foundation Authority: May be illegal sites CSGORoll was blocked by the Danish Gambling Authority in 2019. So did 24 other websites that offer gambling either with money or skins. Although the Danish and Norwegian rules are fairly similar, the Norwegian Lottery Authority has not made a similar decision. – The reason is that these websites have found themselves in a gray area between gambling and computer games, says Monica Alisøy Kjelsnes. She is a lawyer and senior advisor at the Norwegian Lottery and Foundations Authority. The websites have found themselves in a gray area between gambling and computer games, says senior advisor Monica Alisøy Kjelsnes in the Lotteries and Foundations Authority. Photo: Lotteries and Foundations Authority But Kjelsnes cannot rule out that these sites are also illegal in Norway. In order to be defined as gambling, several criteria must be met. – If the websites offer money or skins that can be exchanged or converted into real money as prizes, the games can be considered gambling covered by the Gambling Act, says Alisøy Kjelsnes. According to research news has done on several of the websites, players can withdraw skins and cryptocurrency. – This requires further investigation from us, says Alisøy Kjelsnes. The Lotteries and Foundations Authority cannot currently block websites, as their Danish colleagues in the Gambling Authority can. But the Government proposed in October 2023 to block websites that offer illegal gambling in Norway. A proposal to be considered in the Storting later this month. Until then, the supervisory authority has other sanction options. – The Norwegian Lottery Authority can order that the illegal business cease or close. If they do not comply with such an order, we can impose a compulsory fine to enforce compliance with the order. We also have the opportunity to impose infringement fees, says Alisøy Kjelsnes.
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Children use skins from Counterstrike as currency on illegal gambling sites – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
